Our win closes a local loophole that was allowing more development than is typically allowed on farm and ranch land. 

Agriculture is an important part of Central Oregon’s cultural heritage and supports a resilient local food system. Farm and ranch land has remained available for family farmers in Central Oregon because of protections put in place by our statewide land use planning system.  

After the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruled in favor of wildlife earlier this year, Deschutes County went back to court to challenge their ruling. In a recent ruling from the Court of Appeals, LUBA's decision was affirmed, upholding protections for wildlife in the deer winter range!

Central Oregon LandWatch is the only group on the front lines in defense of Deschutes County’s wildlife habitat code protections. Last week, we filed an appeal of an alarming change to the county’s Flood Plain Zone to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

We need to plan ahead so that together, our land uses and transportation system can reduce the average number of miles we all have to travel to get to where we want to go.

More than 100 of the iconic, old-growth ponderosa pine trees which greet us when we arrive back into Central Oregon from the Santiam Pass or the Metolius River Basin are dying because they were sprayed with a deadly herbicide by the Forest Service and ODOT over the course of three consecutive years. 

Last night, LandWatch advocated for wildlife habitat and protection from wildfire risk adjacent to Shevlin Park by supporting an application for a new zone in Deschutes County. The proposal to create a Westside Transect zone will extend to the county the 2016 UGB concept of tapering density as the city boundary nears the forest where there is higher risk of wildfire.

A victory in Central Oregon LandWatch’s fight to protect elk habitat and quiet recreation opportunities in the Ochoco National Forest came out Monday, August 27th, 2018.

The City of Bend has applied to continue using its archaic and imprecise method of diverting water from the source spring. With climate change, receding snow packs and glaciers will impact the springs meaning less and less water will flow over Tumalo Falls in the future.

As an organization, we are committed to pursuing a more just society through community and environmental advocacy.

The City of Bend is requesting public input as they plan their next Transportation System Plan.  The Plan will be the guiding document for transportation in Bend over the next 20 years.  

The process to reevaluate agricultural lands threatens to classify them as “non-resource”, and prioritize them for development.

Last year when Deschutes County proposed amending the code to weaken winter range protections, LandWatch's members and allies, including the friends of the Tumalo Wildlife Corridor, voiced their strong support for protection of winter range habitat and the species that depend on it.

The Franklin underpass is a key connection between east and west Bend, but it suffers from flooding during high volume rainstorms. The BCD Initiative's Streetscapes Committee made recommendations for improving streetscapes and saving the city money on planned infrastructure projects. The Bulletin reported on these recommendations when the underpass flooded on May 28, 2018.